{"nrhp_refnum":"98001124","name":"Border Theater","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"905 North Conway Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mission","county":"Hidalgo County","state":"TX","lat":26.21530088800006,"lon":-98.32600585499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-08-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2- and 3-story commercial movie theater building at 905 North Conway Boulevard in downtown Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas, built in 1942 and designed by Dallas architect William J. Moore.","why_significant":"The theater was the flagship of a South Texas theater chain and entertained soldiers from nearby Moore Army Air Corps Field and local residents during World War II. It is a rare surviving example of Pueblo Revival styling in a town dominated by Spanish Colonial Revival. It is significant locally for Entertainment/Recreation and Community Planning and Development.","narrative":"Border Theater is a movie house at 905 North Conway Boulevard in downtown Mission, Texas. Opened on April 3, 1942, it was built by theater operators Robert N. and Dell Smith as the flagship of their South Texas chain. Dallas architect William J. Moore designed the wood-frame, brick-veneered building, which is covered in stucco with projecting vigas and heavy timber lintels typical of Pueblo Revival style. The 500-seat auditorium holds murals painted in 1942 by E. Risser, depicting covered wagons, a mission and Hispanic homestead scenes, originally highlighted with fluorescent paint. The theater served soldiers from nearby Moore Army Air Corps Field and local residents during World War II, and it was the only movie house in the Valley with air conditioning throughout at the time. It remains the only theater built in Mission's historic period still operating, and it keeps a high degree of integrity despite changes to its entry canopy.","period_of_significance":"1942-48","architect_builder":"Moore, William J. (architect); Holliday, George (builder)","architectural_style":"Other: 2-part commercial block; Late 19th and 20th century revivals: Pueblo","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still operating as a movie theater; interior relatively unaltered, with a canopy replaced in the early 1990s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.875485-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/9695/40969595/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/98001124.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001124/c32fcbb010-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001124/c32fcbb010-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Andres Gonzalez","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BorderTheater.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Andres Gonzalez</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BorderTheater.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969595","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Theater","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4944615"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/hidalgo-county/border-theater-98001124/"}